Wuxia Edge - Ancient Chinese Series Blog

The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils 2013

OMFG I kind of just realized this remake has been going on for a long time and I haven’t even made a post about it, and lately there has been amazingly high quality stills for this series, so here I am making a delayed post! AHH SO DARN EXCITING I CAN’T WAIT!!!! The cast looks amazing!

Starring Wallace Chung as Qiaofeng, Kim Kibum as Duan Yu, Han Dong as Xu Zhu, Zhang Meng as Wang Yuyan, and Jia Qing as A Zhu. Also, three special guest stars – Alec Su, Alyssa Chia, and Gao Yuan Yuan are going to come back for a cameo!

I’m aware some people have expressed unhappiness because of the cast, such as having a Korean guy play the lead, but c’mon, let’s all embrace differences, and be happy that this is being made, I know if one of our awesome Chinese actors go overseas to star in a show from another country, I wouldn’t want people there to give him a hard time. Let’s be supportive!

Synopsis

The epic centers around the Beggar Leader Qiao Feng, the Dali Prince Duan Yu and the Shaolin Monk Xu Zhu. Each of their stories are interweaved throughout the show and finally clash and join at the climax of the story. Qiao Feng’s story is his quest to find his real identity and the mystery surrounding an event that occured 30 years prior that left him as an orphan. Duan Yu’s story covers his meetings with many of his half sisters that he did not know he had (thanks to his adventurous dad during his young days) and the battle with Duan Yuan Qing as the rightful ruler of Dali. Xu Zhu is a lowly Shaolin Monk who gets caught in the middle of an internal struggle of the Care Free Sect, one of the most powerful and secretative sects around. Their stories take place during the Northern Song Dynasty and across warring kingdoms of Song, Liao, Dali, and Western Xia.

This looks AMAZINGGGG, and I’m REALLY excited for this! I haven’t seen this one before so it will be another awesome experience. I really love the outfits and what’s shown on this trailer and pics!

Onash says

Joricks says

2014-02-18 11:56:23

I really really want to watch this drama but I can’t T_T please if anyone knows where I can watch this please share we me/us I don’t care any language they use but If it english is good too… Hope you guys can help me

kk says

Dongfang Guniang says

Max says

2013-12-23 06:29:27

I love Louis Cha’s novel, but I think Kim Ki-bum as Duan Yu is wrong as his role is meant to be very old like 30s, a leader for begger clan, but he has such a smooth face, more like for face for face cream than a kung fu fighter. Now I see he is Korean singer of boys ban lol I can see attract teens.
I will watch this film for the special effect etc.
but Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (1997 TV series RULES

Echhean says

Chibiaya says

2013-07-02 12:08:34

“See it’s not really the fact that they dislike certain actors/actreses and shows, it’s about having respect for others, saying actors are in my opinion is really rude to me, that’s no different from calilng someone stupid/. I bet those people would not like others calling them , yet they go around saying it to others.”

omg, finally I found someone who shares the same opinion as me! No wonder we click so well! <33 I totally agree with you on this. I really dislike it when people comment on actors or hating them just because they aren't pretty enough.

sapphiresky says

2013-07-02 07:36:29

OMG OMG YOU ROOCOCKCKCKKK AHHH You are j ust SO AMAZING for thinking that too cos OMG YES nothing pisses me off more than seeing insensitive people who like to call actors rude things, it’s like… “do they even realise how terrible it sounds”?
OMG I love meeting people who has similar ideals, it’s just feels so good cos i feel as if i’m not the only person who thinks that.
I LOVEEEEEE talking to you about these shows and stuff, i really hope we get to chat more

Kindreix Sage Lee says

2013-04-17 01:52:15

Kim Kibum from Super Junior ^^

Quote “sapphiresky”
“I’m aware some people have expressed unhappiness because of the cast, such as having a Korean guy play the lead, but c’mon, let’s all embrace differences, and be happy that this is being made, I know if one of our awesome Chinese actors go overseas to star in a show from another country, I wouldn’t want people there to give him a hard time. Let’s be supportive!”

sapphiresky says

2013-04-18 06:35:40

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH it is just the greatest thing in the world to hear something like that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lnkira says

2013-04-03 12:46:58

i guess the reason why Jin Yong’s novels gets remakes all the time is because its written really detailedly at least thats what i heard from other people who read alot of novels from authors
different authors have different writing style n i guess Jin Yong’s style just makes it really easy to adapt into a tv serial with all the details already in it
from clothes to background to martial arts theory its all written in the novel

i have read some of Gu Long’s novels too like 楚留香 & 绝代双骄
He’s really good at writing mysteries so his novels have alot mysteries in it n the characters are shown solving mysteries throughout the series
its still really good but his fighting scenes is written in a really vague but awesome way which makes it really hard to show on tv
he just have a different point of focus in writing his novels

i guess thats the same with other authors
too much blanks somewhere to fill in when adapting to a tv serial while Jin Yong’s already have everything u nid
also, jin yong’s novel already have its own followers
the ratings are more or less alr confirmed
even haters will go watch it just to on it (even more ratings LOL)

sapphiresky says

2013-04-03 04:09:00

OH YES I think if it has a lot of detail, it’s also easier for the film makers to do. One day, I would love to read two different novels by different authors and see what the difference is with writing styles because that interests me so much, esp with Jin yong style and the remakes. I guess because it’s already been made before, people know about it and would want to check it out.
WOOOOOW YEAHHH YOU ARE RIGHT 绝代双骄 had a brilliant mystery in it that I REALLY loved, I think that story was really creative in terms of plot.
HAHAHHA YES YOU ARE SO RIGHT about the haters will just go and watch it to on it, thus giving it high ratings anyway, I think the makers know that, so they feel safer in making that.

wuxiaftw says

sapphiresky says

I will do some search soon and perhaps create a character chart or edit it as soon as I get the names. THANKS HEAPS for that suggestion, I hadn’t even thought of that!!!!

wuxiaftw says

2013-03-31 07:50:26

Ooh a character chart would be lovely ^_^! I do know the names of the actresses playing the characters from http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Tian_Long_Ba_Bu_%282013%29, but I can’t seem to recognise them in the stills D: They look so different in ancient clothing and hairstyles! Whee can’t wait for this to air!

sapphiresky says

2013-03-31 08:14:05

OHHH I just added some descriptions for the pics I know who the characters are, though I still don’t know which is A-Zhu and not sure who the second girl is, but I know the first guy is Alec Su, though I’m not too sure who he plays.

WuxiaRocks says

2013-03-27 02:29:02

I hear they are going with the third revision of the novel with this adaptation. That could be interesting…

sapphiresky says

Wow that’s cool to hear they’re putting in such care to the adaptation! How do you usually hear about these news?

WuxiaRocks says

2013-03-27 03:35:25

Oh, from a friend. Who hangs around in Chinese boards and such. Legit info or not, we’ll see.

Also, expect this series to be jam-pack with CGI. In the case of this one, the story actually calls for it. If you enjoy your series with some colors and fantasy, this should be up your alley. And the main character uses the same technique as Guo Jing, the dragon palms.

I think you’ll love this series.

sapphiresky says

2013-03-27 04:11:00

AWESOMEEE CGI, just what I love!! Seriously it still baffles me on why people think CGI is being used too much but anyway, I LOVE these types of shows, I think technology is just advancing int hat way which is perfect for me cos I LOVE my CGI-filled series.
I think I will enjoy it too but once again there’s the problem of subbing… As this site is mostly to promote stuff to the English audience, I always want to share it (write about it) if others are able to see it as well!
BUT thanks for letting me know that

passerby says

2013-03-30 08:24:06

I didn’t know that I always thought why some swear words are in dot dot, now I know.

You mention somewhy actually said something nasty, was that in this blog?

Hmm, I think people have different tastes in terms, which actors/actresses like or dislike.

Usually I prefer ones that fit the descriptions of what the novels says. E.g. the actor that protrayed Guan Yi in the 1990s three kingdoms gave me a very good impression, the recent one (2010) not that good, nothing against the actor though, its just an impression thing. However, as long as the tv series itself is well done not a problem at all.

Can’t wait till the Qin Shi Min Yue movie comes out. I actually thought StarQ would use red hair rather than blue hair for the character, because descriptions of people from XiYu was red hair, once again not a fuss, the quality of the movie is more important.

sapphiresky says

2013-03-30 04:25:24

I actually don’t mind swearing at all like I love saying them myself, but I guess its how people use it. I’ve had people say, shows are sh*t because it’s not based on history, which is totally biased, or others who said this and that actor is ugly… Most of this is on youtube though, I’ve actually not had a lot of problems on here YET lol But usually I try and talk to everyone who comments here so if they do say something nasty, I will let them know.
See it’s not really the fact that they dislike certain actors/actreses and shows, it’s about having respect for others, saying actors are ugly in my opinion is really rude to me, that’s no different from calilng someone stupid/. I bet those people would not like others calling them ugly, yet they go around saying it to others.
I find imprsesions are usually not good to judge a new show, even trailers can be a total lie. I’ve watched some trailers which made the show seem way too serious, or something else, but it turned out very relaxed and funny as well. Also, I remember some trailers tricked me into thinking the show was confusing but that’s not really the fault of the show cos there’s so much you can put on a trailer. So I just learned to try and not even watch any trailers and such, just watch the show when it comes out.
OH YES I can’t wait till the new QM movie comes out as well. It’s really exciting!

passerby says

2013-03-31 09:21:53

So you swear everytime you speak???

That’s what I said I don’t mind first impressions, if the actors/actresses do well in the drama I’m not a fuss.

Trailers only gives a overview of the story rather than the entire story, but stil tells you what kind of story it is.

sapphiresky says

2013-04-01 03:32:47

HAHAHA no I don’t swear every time I speak. I swear sometimes in a funny way, like as a joke.
YEaH!! I actually think it’s best to not watch a trailer, I only get interested to see a trailer after I know the characters a bit ROFL then I want spoilers.
Most likely a trailer will confuse me because I want to knwo the WHOLE story than just partially.
I saw the BBJX 2 trailer, it looks really interesting, I am fascinated by the fact that the characters seem to remember the past. I want to know if they do remember who they were.

I didn’t know this one was going on either. Can’t say I’m excited, though. I still haven’t finished watching the 2003 version yet. Costume design looks pretty good here, but it’s just more of the same so I can’t really get pumped for this.

The Korean lead is no big deal. If they had the characters look the same every time, then no one would want to watch. If you’re going to repeat the same adaptation over and over again, you have to make each version different somehow.

sapphiresky says

2013-03-27 01:34:08

LOL most people who are so used to Jin Yong stuff woould probably feel like watching remakes is like eating regurgitated rice><
But glad you think so about the Korean lead, I also think there’s no big deal about it since as long as they’re a good actor, and can do the role well, that’s all it should matter.

passerby says

2013-03-26 07:42:35

Not that I wanted a big fuss about it, it just why in the world are there are so many remakes of jin yong novels, there are many more wuxia novels out there that require digging out, Qin Moon is just one example, that was recently made well know, if it wasn’t dug up, who would even heard of the name, unfortunately the author already have passed away.

I considered it a disrepect of Jin Yong as well, if there are more remakes, some fans may just turn away from his novels, because they keep seeing similar things again and again, The producers should also “seriously” considered what they select.

sapphiresky says

2013-03-26 08:28:58

This is an interesting questions someone else brought up, it’s because they know Jin Yong stuff will sell. I think the problem is there are ALOT of shows made but most of them don’t get broadcasted,ever, so big TV station companies don’t want to take a risk and make an unknown wuxia story that won’t sell, whereas Jin Yong stuff is safe because of his popularity. Just look at Swordsman, even though people complain aout all the changes (which I don’t have a problem with at all and in fact, I enjoy this series immensely), it’s still one of the hottest shows on TV, and if you look at a lot of other shows the same producer did, like Allure Snow, that’s barely even heard of… Or even there was another one, something about a Bounty Hunter, which is hardly even talked about. I can’t even find a summary on it in English!
While it is sad that there are HEAPS of awesome stuff waiting to be made, many are remaking old ones, but at least hope that explains why.
(I think it’s best if you explain in detail about how you feel about what you’ve seen so far of this remake, I want people to really think about why they feel the way they do!)

passerby says

2013-03-26 09:07:07

Hi sapphire, haven’t talked for a long time and please accept my apologies for my most recent post, which sounds somewhat a bit irritating, no disrespect to your blog.

I understand “producers” sticking to familar novels rather than venturing off to things that have never been tested before is safe, however, as can be seen if they carry out on like this, they won’t improve.

Take StarQ for example, I believe it is their first time creating a 3d animation on a wuxia novel (Qin Moon), and yet it was met with great success, reason is because they listen to what viewers say and improve it on the next season, if we look at season 1, nobody would like it from the CG quality, especially when its already in the 21st century.

Not to mention that some remakes of Jin Yong novels was not even met with great success at all. Therefore, even its a familiar novel, yet people won’t like it, if they find things they don’t like.

Regarding the most recent Swordsman drama, I actually like it. Some people complain about the rewritting of the story, well Hong Kong did some thing similar especially to Legend of Condor Heroes (forgot which version) and people still love it.

The reason why I like this most recent Swordsman is because the cast is great and “MORE IMPORTANTLY” the story itself is different, many remakes are the same in terms of the story, as a result I sometimes do get bored, because I already know what would happen next, but in this version, I won’t know the ending and I am interested at the end, who would be with our hero Lin Hu Chung, whether its Yin Yin or Don Fai Bu Bai.

The only thing that really irritates me is the overuse of CG, e.g. remember the bit when Lin HU Chung and Don Fai Bu Bai battle it out, one of them was a covered in a blue light, whereas the other in a red light, and these two “red and blue shooting stars was crashing against each other??? I was wondering is that overuse of CG? during fight scenes, shouldn’t it be “martial arts moves” PLUS “CG,” otherwise as some people say its not a “martial arts,” its a “science fiction” type fight scene.

sapphiresky says

2013-03-26 10:03:30

WOW YES it has been ages! I was just thinking about where you have been and you made a comment! How cool is that!
About CG, I would have to say that I don’t feel they overuse CG at all, in fact, CG is the reason why I am attracted to more shows… I find them to be REALLY awesome and I honestly don’t like it when I see people always get annoyed with overusing CG because to me, it fits perfectly and it makes me almost feel the completely opposite.
What I never understand is why people find so much problems with it? If it has a lot of lights, it only makes it realy fun… Do people really colors or lighting or something? Cos I don’t understand how that can be overusing it or too much.
I actually think wuxia series SHOULD have as much CG as it can be cos that makes it SOOO darn exciting, awesome, amazing and just fun to watch, it makes it more fantasyish, I don’t care of it’s martial arts or fantasy, but I LOVE fantasy that CG just rocks.
Also if you look at Qin’s Moon, isn’t that also Wuxia with CG? People are just not used to old style wuxia series with a lot of CG, I really don’t see any problems with it. I would hope if people find it overusing, they can give detailed analysis on WHAT and HOW and WHY because I seriously don’t like reading complaints about CG because they are the reason why many shows look kickass as it is!
Though I think StarQ took a big chance on the very first WUXIA aniation which is very unique on its own, whereas more people are used to seeing Wuxia live action so perhaps more gets overlooked or not as known… Also, StarQ is very hard workers who put a huge amount of effort in their show, I know Tangren does that too and they often do unique types of shows…
You know what, I think there probably are other adaptations of wuxia stories but perhaps nobody even knows about them cos they’re not known…

passerby says

2013-03-27 08:39:34

The first actual supernatural martial art fantasy film that was made with CG was Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983) from Hong Kong.

Wiki:

“Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain is a 1983 Hong Kong supernatural fantasy film directed by Tsui Hark, who attempts to combine Hong Kong action cinema with Western special effects technology.”

The audience was completely overwhelmed by the CGI effects, because they never seen anything like this before, because most of the old wuxia series/films’s special effects were created “manually” including use of wire work, but they are not “visually” appealing. As a result this demostrates how significant CG is to the wuxia gene, because people love them. The things that I wanted in wuxia series these days are both “CG+Martial arts moves” together.

Therefore I love CG, I don’t it at all, the only thing is for me is don’t use it “too little” or “too much”, but a “more balanced way”. I know I am not good in explaining.

sapphiresky says

2013-03-28 05:53:02

wooow THAT’S COOL ABOUT THE cg! i really think it’s something to get used to, I totally know why audiences may think it’s strange or overwhelmed because it used to be a lot less but I think we should all look at it positively and see how it enhances the show rather than let it be annoying. I LOVE CG so much that honestly , sometimes the situation is unforunate because I only ever see people complain about CG, when it’s good, people just hardly say it… It kind of reminds me of how unfair voice actors are treated in these shows too, that so many wonderful voice actors do amazing jobs but yet, nobody know their names, and when people talk about dubbing, it’s usually to complain, these voice actors deserve so much more!
But anyway, i’m glad you enjoy it, and that it’s just a balance thing. For me, I LOVE a lot of it, hahahaa. If a show feels magical to me, I wanna watch it instantly!

passerby says

2013-03-28 03:45:01

I don’t know if its a concidence or not, but it seems like chinese wuxia and the science fiction: Star Wars are tied/linked together for some reason. E.g.

Magic Mountain (1983) – The CG effects was created by the same team that created the CG effects for the Star Wars films.

Jade Empire (chinese wuxia game created by US) – Dialogue and Quest system are modeled so similar to the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic games.

Everytime when a “big hit” wuxia product comes out, it always get linked to Star Wars, whether its the film, the games or the animation as I mentioned above. Is this all “concidence???” Link between “science fiction and wuxia???”

Sapphire just notice your notice in “red,” does that mean I cannot post anything negative on your blog comments??? Because you mentioned that

“I think it’s best if you explain in detail about how you FEEL”

If that’s the case I have to lie how I feel? Not joking are you???

Just notice it now, how long have you put the red notice up???

sapphiresky says

2013-03-28 05:10:25

WOW amazing, I actually have never seen Star Wars so I have no idea haha.
Let’s see, what I want to do is encourage people to be positive, because I personally it when I have to read people saying they stuff. But, I do allow people to say negative things IF They explain it properly, not just say, this sucks and that’s stupid, but say WHY that is. Say if you don’t like a charcter, give some good reasons to back it up, rather than on it. I do that because A LOT of people are way too mean these days, all they do is say actors look ugly like pigs and such, I want to avoid all that.
I put the notice up some time ago, but yeah, basically I am just sick of reading people say, “this show is because it has no historyo in it”, and commets like that, it really helps nobody except make people who love it mad, whereas if they explain WHY, that’s a whole different story.
I just think most people who on things never explain, so if that’s the case, I’d rather them focus on what they liked, if they can’t explain properly. I hope you know what I mean, also I just think focusing on what we love is better because it makes people happier and brings us closer, this is a fan site afterall and fan means love. Also, I want people to feel free to read stuff without fearing they read something mean… And believe me, sometimes negative comments has depressed me enough to make me want to quit my entire website.. (On youtube) because of that, I had to disable comments altogether because some people only thought of saying what they hated without any reason… It just makes me feel terrible and makes me not want to read comments at all.

passerby says

2013-03-28 06:21:38

I see, some people from youtube are pretty spammers and not really contributing to the comments section.

Is there anything you like or dislike to date, e.g. the ancient series especially jin yong???

Have you been to Qinmoon website recently, it reveals a bit more regarding the movie that’s going to be shown in cinema this summer, one of the things reveal was a mysterious girl character from Xiyu/Western Regions (Modern XinJiang) and an activity to get fans involved is draw out this girl character how would she look. Many good works were uploaded, and finally just recently QIn Moon also revealed their character look of this young girl.

sapphiresky says

2013-03-29 07:16:41

Actually, I would call those youtubers as trolls rather than spammers cos they don’t just spam, they are very mean sometimes… I got so afarid of them I even put up a filter on this site so I don’t have to deal with comments like that, if I had to read messages like that everyday, I know I probably would have quit this site completely.

For me, I don’t dislike a series but I may disagree with certain vaules in the show, such as I don’t like it when females try and kill themselves if they confess to a man and he didn’t like her back, I feel that’s giving a negative message to females, that suicide is a way to win a man’s heart. That’s not a good message. I also dislike evil characters who did a lot of nasty things to others, like Yue Buqun from Swordsman (oh man I wanna punch him so freaking … ) and there are certain genres I don’t watch as much, because I find it too hard to understand, like the historical ones. But I never like to dislike a series, unless I had a very good reason to do so, like it promoted nothing but values and no storyline etc. So far I have not watched one like that, which is great!
What I truly love to do is analyse why characters act the way they do. If they appear annoying, I wana find out why, rather than just say they’re annoying. If CG looks , I want people to say WHY it does…
But anyway, I haven’t seen the QM site cos I really can’t read Chinese haha, how did you know about the story? I am so excited about the movie I just want to see it now and the new western region girl looks SOOO PRETTY!!!

passerby says

2013-03-29 07:29:54

I think everybody was born differently, the environment that they were born, who brought them up to adult hood as well the person’s inner personality. Of course if there were no guys, there would no wuxia…

sapphiresky says

2013-03-30 12:07:57

Oohhh the filter just filters out really words and turn them into a dot lol or something like that…
But yes, I agree it’s totaly about how they were raised and environment. there can be really nice but also nasty people.
news is, I’m TERRIBLE at handling these type of people, like one of their comment is enough to sometimes makes me pissed off for days, so I have to be really careful with it, if I think the comment is , I will delete without reading it first.
One of the types of comments I getting is when people say how ugly actors are. That just really bothers me…
OMG I LOVE that 3D model! I added it in the QM wallpaper collection

WuxiaRocks says

2013-03-25 03:09:53

One of the most characters-packed Wuxia story around.

If anything this is probably Jin Yong’s biggest work in my opinion, as it contain three main characters with three different story, intersecting into one complete story. I think the 50eps speaks for itself. lol

WuxiaRocks says

2013-03-25 05:19:28

Actually from some of the complaints I read, it’s not the fact that the actor is Korean that gives some people problem, it’s the fact that they think the actor looks does not match the character in the novel.

And the costume does not help.

Not that Wallace match Linghu Chong’s description in the novel, but whatever. To each their own. lol

I myself don’t really have much opinion on this series yet, whether it looks good or not I can’t really say, yet. Seems okay so far.

We’ll see.

sapphiresky says

2013-03-25 05:27:11

Ohhh well, I think people should watch the show before actually judging, because sometimes people may not feel a character was right but they turn out so they thought. I remember when LOCH08 came out, everyone were complaining Ariel Lin didn’t fit the description and then, look at her, she managed to be a hell of an amazingly, AWESOME and memorable Huang Rong. So people really need to wait and watch it before they judge too fast.
Though I would fail to understand how the costumes don’t help the characters match in the novel, since I have never read the novel before.
OMG You know what i think reading the novel first just makes people too judgemental, sometimes it seems like it’s better off not reading it so you get a fresh perspective.

sapphiresky says

2013-03-25 05:22:45

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW SO AMAZING to hear that. Now it makes me REALLY want to watch it. WHOA three characters with different stories. That would be SO fascinating!!! I remember when this was on TV, I always wanted to see it but never got around. Though I did watch a part where Duan Yu and the girl were stuck in a hole (not sure if it happened or I was dreaming HAHA)
I definteily am looking forward to this, it’s funny they have already released a trailer and I thought they JUST started filming.
BTW I have a list of shows I want to watch after Swordsman, could you perhaps give me a recommendation on what to start first?
Return of the Condor Heroes
Demi Gods and Semi Devils (older version)
Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber
Ive been wanting to watch them forever but haven’t had a chance. I will be seeing one of them after.

WuxiaRocks says

2013-03-25 06:11:08

I think reading the novel is fine, even if it’s before seeing the series. Just as long as one don’t compare every single plot details to the novel.

And as long as the adaptations don’t alter the character personality. Even if they change the plot entirely I am fine with. Just keep the characters in tact.

Example, if the director take a kind heart character who is pure and innocent from the novel and turn him into an evil back stabbing person, see what’s wrong with that? Changing character in an adaptation is a no no, as it ruins the actual characters.

Which is how I feel with most of these newer adaptations.

If I had not read the novel, I would the characters unfairly base off their mistreatment.

These were adaptations that was spot on in characters, spirit, pacing and mood of the novel, so much so to the point that it’s pretty much the actual novel unfold on screen. Many can agree with me that these are great series whether one read the novel or not. State of Divinity 96 being one of the best Wuxia ever made. Adaptation or not.

That said, I’m not gonna compare any of these newer adaptations plot to the ones in the past. I can watch these newer adaptations with an open-mind, just as long as the characters are in tact. No matter what situations they are put in. Nothing is worst than taking characters from someone else’s work and butcher them.

About your memory of DGSD, yes, there is a scene where a guy and girl is trap in a hole, or rather a well. That character would be the prince, Duan Yu, and his dream lady in white Wang Yuyan.

As for your question on recommendation; let’s see.

ROCH 06, (too choppy) but high production value.
ROCH 95, ROCH 83 recommended, plot-wise. All three are faithful enough to source material, except some more enjoyable than others.

DGSD 82, good,
DGSD 97, superb,
DGSD 03, decent.

HSDS 86, good,
HSDS 2000, average, and poorly made,
HSDS 09, good,

It’s hard for me to recommend to you exactly what you should watch as we may have different taste. However, give what you can a try and see where it takes you.

sapphiresky says

2013-03-25 08:51:03

With big changes to adaptation, I guess it depends on if I’ve seen older versions before, if I have seen it, I probably would be against major changes but if not, then I wouldn’t mind either way, I guess it also depends on if it’s positive or negative change, like there are certain types of character tropes I like and if they change it to something I love, then I’d be happy but say if they change a happy character depressed, then I wouldn’t, so it really depends.
YES so true if they change a kind character into evil backstabbing, I think I would have some problems with that… Though I think I’d have less problems if they changed an evil person into a kind character HAHAHHAAA, it’s always easier if the change is positive, i think!
Awesome thank you so much for the recommendations. I will just watch the latest versions available in Subs cos I like to be able to write about them and have others be able to watch it as well! It will be exciting to be able to talk more about the shows cos that’s one of the fun things I love doing, analyzing the different shows

Kia says

2013-03-25 12:28:46

More Jingyong remakes! And Han Dong is continuing as a monk from Swordsman…

Strange that people are discontent about a Korean male lead. The movie version of The Myth had a Korean female lead, and I don’t remember anyone being discontent over that…

I do look forward to this, though it seems that with each remake, they are using younger and younger actors…

sapphiresky says

2013-03-25 05:07:19

YES LOLL I noticed that there’s a new Jinyong remake almost every day or every 2 years. I’m not sure if I’m going to watch this version or the older one cos I haven’t seen this before and REALLY want to lol! Maybe both HAHAAA
Yes it’s odd with people being discontent over the korean lead, I guess they weren’t expecting it for this show?
I do look forward to it as well!

anonymous27 says

2013-03-25 08:06:54

Looking forward to this so much! Thanks for the heads up!

But what’s with the solid one colour costumes for the girls? Additional colours would be nice!

sapphiresky says

OMG SO HAPPY you’re looking forward to this! YAYYY!!
You’re right, I want more variety and colours in the outfits as well! Hope they have a few they change into!

Kia says

2013-03-25 12:44:13

I imagine the plain cloth are suppose to highlight their beauty. That’s why the most beautiful (internal and external) girls in wuxia series almost always is in white. Xiao Longnu in Return of Condor (Is that the right name?), Wang Yuyang here, many instance in Strange Tales/Liao Zhai, female lead from The Myth (forgot her name), etc.